Financial Services: Major System Development

Client: RBC Centura Bank

Situation:

Centura Bank in North Carolina (now part of PNC) undertook a major implementation of new teller and loan administration systems. Both applications were acquired from software vendors. The bank was concerned about putting the entire implementation responsibility in the hands of the software vendor. They wanted a vendor-neutral team that would focus their efforts on the requirements, priorities and success of the bank. Centura was looking for expertise to drive the project from definition, requirements, implementation, test, deployment, and initial support.

Softworld Delivered:

Over a three-year period, Softworld consultants, under the direction of our assigned program manager and project managers, coordinated, planned and executed this project. Approximately 60 contractors were deployed during the three-year period. In addition to the program and project managers, we assigned teller platform and loans subject-matter experts, business analysts, application architects who were deeply knowledgeable about the software products, and QA analysts. Our team members worked shoulder to shoulder with internal staff for knowledge transfer and with vendor consultants who were required to actually modify the software.

Results:

At the time of the project, the bank was part of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and the Canadian based CIO wanted oversight of this project from his office. He assigned two senior IBM project managers who after three months reported back that the project was on schedule and within budget, and the Softworld resources assigned were more than capable of operating without oversight. The project was completed on time and within budget.